Your accounting system effectively documents all the activity in your business and provides critical information to make good business decisions. If you’ve outgrown your accounting system and you’re moving to a new and improved model (like MYOB Exo!), it’s absolutely necessary that the transition is as seamless as possible so no information falls through the cracks.
To successfully transition to a new accounting system, you need to consider these factors:
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
A smooth transition starts with preparing your staff for change and guiding them through the process. First, communicate why your firm is moving to a new accounting software system. While the transition might require a lot of work on behalf of some key staff members, explain that your business will benefit from the new system in the long run.
Once you’ve explained why you’re making the transition, train your staff to implement the change. Schedule some time and verify that your current accounting procedures are documented. Work with your software provider to create a plan of conversion. Ensure that all stakeholders (accounting and finance staff, operations, senior management and even sales if your accounting system is linked to your inventory or job costing functions) are involved in planning the conversion.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR UNIQUE BUSINESS
Your company has processes that are unique to its particular industry. A retailer, for example, accounts for inventory. On the other hand, a manufacturer must account for raw materials and work in progress. You need to consider your unique business processes and how they link to your accounting structure in order to implement a smooth software conversion.
TEST YOUR NEW SYSTEM
Ideally you should have a transition period in order to test the new system is tracking data in the same way as the old system and avoid missing anything out. Run a set of transactions concurrently through your current and new system and review the results to ensure they are accurate.
Consider a denim jeans manufacturer for example. They decide to run transactions through their new system, at the same time, they process data through their existing (live) system. If their new software is operating properly, they should get the same accounting results as their current system produces. In this case, that means that the same dollar amount of denim is moved into production using both accounting systems. Both programs also post the same number of units, the same sales intake, same profit figure etc.
A FINAL SET OF TRANSACTIONS
Before you implement your new system, generate a set of adjusted financial statements at the end of a particular period. That “clean” set of financials will be your starting point for a new system. At the end of October, for example, you print a trial balance and post your accounting adjustments. Once you’re satisfied with your adjusted trial balance, you generate October financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, etc.).
GOING LIVE
Say you decide to go live with your new accounting software on November 1st. You’ve communicated the November conversion data to your staff. Each person in the organisation has provided his or her input on the implementation process. Your staff has a new operations manual and has trained on the new software.
At various points after software implementation, you analyse the results that are generated by the new software. You use your October 31st accounting data to ensure that November accounting activity is posted correctly.
These tips can help you have a smooth transition to your new accounting system.
WORK WITH AN EXPERT
Consider working with an accounting software expert to help you with the implementation process. We are available to talk through your particular situation with you and provide advice to help make your software switchover seamless. Contact us at (08) 9328 1678 or via our contact form and we’ll get in touch!
As a business owner, two of your main goals will be to improve communication with your customers and to streamline your business practices. If you want to succeed in business, then you need to be able to contact your customers quickly and effectively, while at the same time making your business more efficient.
Luckily, there is a new technology that helps you to do both. Its name? Mobile customer relationships management software – or mobile CRM for short.
Mobile CRM takes advantage of the fact that clients are now on smartphones or tables, and wish to communicate quickly immediately with suppliers – they want to know the status of their order or your stock levels there and then – mid-meeting, not once you’ve travelled back to the office to check it out.
If you’re looking to grow your business or to improve your customer communications, then you need to consider mobile CRM, and here’s why:
Increase your revenue quickly
As a first benefit, you can quickly increase your revenue and bottom line. With mobile CRM you can give customers the answers they require quickly – finalise projects and deals before you even leave a meeting.
You can access the information straight away, rather than waiting to get back to the office. The faster you can communicate with customers, the faster deals get done. Simple!
Faster response times for clients
Fast response times to clients equals good customer service. Mobile CRM means that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, you can respond to a client. What’s more you can also solve urgent or important matters instantly.
Clients don’t like waiting for you to get back to them. If they have a problem and you don’t respond, it’s often not long before they consider taking their business elsewhere.
Don’t lose clients because of avoidable delays. Embrace mobile CRM and start providing outstanding customer services that your clients will rave about.
Stronger relationships with clients
Fast response times by themselves are not enough if you don’t have the right answers. When you respond you need to have all relevant information about the client at your fingertips. This way you can go into detail about their account, and also discuss current issues or projects that they have.
It’s customer service 101 – when you provide these two elements together you show your customers that you care about their business – you’re up-to-speed on their account and your business processes are tight and controlled.
Mobile CRM allows you to do this by giving you quick access to your client’s full account history right there on your mobile or tablet app! You could be at a trade fair in Perth CBD and your colleague could be on the road making a sales visit in Bunbury. No matter where they are, all staff will have access to customer account info.
Improved organisational skills
The beauty of mobile CRM is that you don’t actually have to be that organised to use it!
Not only does it help your clients via excellent customer service, it also helps you run your company, and improve and integrate your procedures.
Mobile CRM options – such as our mobile CRM plugin for MYOB Business Process Software – allow you to integrate your existing accounting practices and business practices with mobile CRM.
If you have staff in multiple offices or staff out in the field they can undertake their accounting, stocks and ordering while on the road. This improves effectiveness and efficiency of your business dramatically.
Improves your sales force effectiveness
If you have sales managers who are constantly on the road, you can see amazing benefits from mobile CRM.
Rather than coming back into the office to process sales, they can do them automatically from location. This means faster processing times for clients, and more time for your sales staff to be out their making sales. Win-win!
In short, every business is constantly looking for ways to improve business practices, customer service, and increase sales. With mobile CRM you can do all three!
Contact us today, to learn more about what our mobile CRM solution – Exo-on-the-go – can do for your business.
The decision to change from manual accounting systems to an umbrella system depends on the same criteria that influence people to upgrade residential infrastructure: old systems are inefficient, cost-prohibitive, appear old-fashioned and need frequent troubleshooting.
Current systems and spread sheets work fine but manual accounting systems generate payroll expenses for office staff, increased accounting fees, inefficient inventory-ordering practices and lost opportunities to optimise leads, leverage social and business trends and uncover waste, theft and fraud.
Clues that you might benefit by replacing your existing system include:
Upgrading the accounting system helps you position your company for accelerated growth, meet the challenges of global marketing and integrate your business with the current financial practices of most vendors, clients, social agencies and tax authorities.
Before choosing a new system, consider the following points:
Your accounting solution will impact every department in the company, so choosing software solutions works better when you make it a group effort. Involving each department manager in the decision will help you find the best solution and encourage loyalty among employees, who often resist changes to systems that have always worked adequately in the past.
The new software should meet the following criteria:
Contact us to find out how MYOB EXO, MYOB Advanced and Horizon Business Systems can help your business achieve all of the above (and more!) today.
As a business grows, so does its complexity. Connecting the varied processes and operations to it can be a challenge.
Understanding your business processes and having your business management system built around them can transform your entire operational approach – and deliver real, quantifiable business benefits.
Like having easy access to the information you need to make critical decisions, gaining a deeper understanding of the efficiencies that drive your business and that all-important big-picture view – along with the ability to drill down to the details when it matters.
MYOB Enterprise Solutions offer a suite of enterprise systems covering finances (ERP), business operations, inventory control and client management (CRM), employer services (payroll and HR)– giving you the ability to make smarter connections across all aspects of your business with a fully integrated management solution built around your individual operational approach.
See the full article MYOB Enterprise Stay Connected
Technology is changing the way everyone does business. MYOB has invested $75m towards a vision that doesn’t just give clients the solutions, services, and support to achieve their goals – but also a way of working that they can define on their own terms.
Technology is changing the way everyone does business. MYOB has invested $75m towards a vision thatdoesn’t just give clients the solutions, services, and support to achieve their goals – but also a way ofworking that they can define on their own terms.
For larger, more complex businesses, the MYOB Enterprise Solutions suite provides the tools, processes, and infrastructure necessary to build a successful organisation. The suite comprises of optional modules – including remote access technology such as Microsoft Terminal Services, Citrix, or the EXO Anywhere Module – which allow for greater scalability and growth via a fully integrated ERP business management system.
So what does this mean for a General Manager?
A general manager of a business has broad, overall responsibility for the organisation. While each department manager may be responsible for one functional area, the general manager is responsible for all areas. They are the big picture people. They have to know how the company is faring; which department is excelling and which is lagging behind; what products are selling; and which customers need a little nurturing because the competition is trying to steal them away.
Doctor Benjamin Esty – Chair of the General Management Program at Harvard Business School – says that a successful GM gets ahead “[…] by knowing more and more about less and less”. Critical to a general manager’s success is their ability to have a broader view of the network of internal and external factors that affect their business; having direct access to the information needed to make critical business decisions. With a deeper view of the performance of individual line processes, they will have a deeper understanding of the efficiencies that are driving the business – and when to act. If all of this can be brought together into a unified management view of the business, they will finally have that all-important big picture view.
To read the full article you can click on CONNECTING GENERAL MANAGERS
We would love to hear your thoughts so please consider contacting me!
Regards,
Michael Pendred, Managing Director – Horizon Business Systems
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